Is the marginalia genuine?

[Chris]

Given the description of the annotations in Jim Swanson's letter to the News of the World in 1981, I find it very hard to understand how it can be argued that they are not wholly genuine.

Unless it's going to be claimed that the 1981 letter is itself a fake, that letter shows that the annotations then included not only the suspect's name, but also "why he was not brought to justice, and what eventually happened to him." In that case there can be no question of the endpaper annotations having been concocted after Martin Fido's discoveries in 1987.

But in 1981 no one knew that Aaron Kozminski lived in his brother's house, or that he had been sent to Colney Hatch. Are those meant to have been lucky guesses on the faker's part, or is he supposed to have secretly carried out his own ground-breaking Ripper research years before Fido's discoveries?

[Magpie]

I think they are genuine, although I think there's room to argue that Swanson's intention in writing them was other than what is generally assumed.

[Phil H]

100% genuine in my view.

Possibly written in two separate "phases" but both by D S Swanson himself (this reflects SPE's perception of the use of two different writing instruments).

My only question relates to whether:

a) DSS expanded on Anderson's words, making explicit things that his old boss had left unsaid. This assumes that all the knowledge/facts involved were already (i.e. previously) known to DSS from his involvement in the case; or

b) the words repeat things that DSS had not previously known but which were told him by Anderson possibly when DSS asked him what he meant. This would explain the apparent vagueness and mismatch with what is known of contemporary procedures which some have noted in the marginalia. It might also explain why he states the suspects name in the way he does.

Those considerations apart I have absolutely no doubt that the marginalia are authentic.

Phil

[Steven Russell]

I have been quite surprised recently to see that several Casebook members are doubtful about the marginalia and endpaper notes and thought it would be interesting to post a poll. By "genuine", I mean written by D.S. Swanson himself.

Best wishes,
Steve.